Adjustable chairs are utilized in a wide variety of applications such as, for example, medical and dental applications, beauty parlors and barbershops, and the like, in order to provide an efficient and comfortable treatment. In medical and dental applications, for example, the adjustable chair is utilized to support a patient's body in an upright, supine position (reclined position with nose and knees on the same plane) or sub-supine position (reclined position with head lower than the feet), which can be a well, organized position for treatment.
Conventional adjustable chairs provide sufficient comfort to the patients, but are not very useful to the surgeons, doctors and dentists. For example, dentists and dental assistants working in dental clinics have suffered from back problems for years due to many hours leaning and twisting over patients while performing precise and delicate work on the patients' teeth. Holding up the arms for prolonged periods of time creates further stress and tension on the lower back, shoulders and neck resulting in stinging pains in these areas. Hence, surgeons, doctors and dentists may be forced to quit their respective occupations due to lower back, neck and shoulder problems stemming from years of leaning over surgery tables and standing or sitting for prolonged periods.
Adjustable chairs that possess supports for engaging a user, such as a dentist, hygienist, surgeon, etc., are known in the art. The majority of prior art support chair systems include a lumber back support, which does not provide an endurable amount of support for a user's weight from the front. Such chairs typically do not attain their intended purpose of back support due to erroneous design problems. That is, the support system for such devices generates a huge strain at the lower back and shoulders of the user while leaning over, for example, a patient. Such support chair assemblies suffer from a number of disadvantages, including a limited freedom of movement when a user is seated on the chair and performs a work task forward of the seating surface. The seat of the chair must provide comfort to the user particularly when working long hours in a forwardly inclined position.
Based on the foregoing it is believed that a need exists for an improved occupational support chair system for supporting a user's weight from the front, as described in greater detail herein.